The car’s radio continued to broadcast updates on the insect disaster in Lone Star City, but the black Ford began to emit dangerous creaking noises. It was no longer just the insects; something like a woodpecker was using its hard, sharp mandibles to drill into the seams of the car doors and windows, injecting corrosive venom.
"When it really comes down to it..." Matthew muttered in French, his words trailing off when Nemo grabbed his sleeve and said, "Listen, the frequency of the mosquitoes’ wingbeats suddenly became uniform."
Ignoring the discomfort, Nemo leaned against the window, trying to make out the scene outside through the gaps where the giant mosquitoes crawled. About fifteen meters away, a figure in a long cloak slowly approached, their face hidden deep within the shadow of the lowered hood.
The cloaked figure had an unusually thin build, almost as if it had become an insect too. As it walked, the cloak swayed like it was weightless, and it twig-like, withered arms held a glowing, purple stone roughly the size of a football.
"The Summoner's come to personally capture you," Nemo said to Matthew. "Looks like they still want you alive."
With several giant mosquitoes clinging to the body, no one would dare disobey and run; it was more effective than a gun to the head.
"Watch the stone in its hand," Matthew whispered as he edged closer to Nemo to take a look.
"Is that the so-called 'Fragments'? It's so big, it must be valuable. If it’s destroyed, will the mosquitoes die too, or will they just go out of control?" Nemo asked.
"I don't know," Matthew shook his head.
Nemo reached back for the golf club in the back seat, but Matthew quickly stopped him. "What are you trying to do?"
"If they have no reason to keep me alive, how can we negotiate? We’re surrounded like this—might as well make a move while the mosquitoes are frozen by their orders," Nemo whispered.
"No, you little lunatic, it’s not time to give up yet." Matthew firmly held his hand, preventing Nemo from doing anything rash.
"You said it would be twenty minutes before Michael arrives, and other heroes are still fighting elsewhere..."
"But you’ve forgotten, it’s us trapped in here!" Matthew snapped, and at that moment, the buzzing of the mosquitoes' wings suddenly stopped.
An invisible tension filled the air, and the Summoner halted in its tracks. Even Nemo could feel an ominous pressure descending from above.
Suddenly, Matthew pulled the curly-haired youth into an embrace, one hand firmly protecting Nemo’s head. In the next second, a glowing figure descended from the sky, creating a strong wind and shockwave.
The black Ford was flipped, rolling once, some of the mosquitoes stuck to the car crushed, others shaken loose. The view outside the window immediately became much clearer.
Nemo felt dizzy and disoriented. Through his blurred vision, he could vaguely see a figure with luminous transparent wings and a golden sword, standing between the black Ford and the Summoner. Not surprisingly, there was now a pit in the middle of the street.
Matthew's voice came muffled from behind: "I guess this is what movie fans call the 'Superhero Landing'?"
The mosquito swarm quickly formed a dense vortex around the mysterious hero, named Michael, the second-ranked superhero. Without a word, Michael’s wings, seemingly made of energy, spun and scattered, precisely cutting down every giant mosquito around him. At the same time, Michael swiftly glided forward, his feet barely touching the ground, and stood in front of the Summoner.
With a swing, the Summoner seemed unprepared, and the two forearms, along with the glowing purple meteorite they were holding, immediately fell to the ground, separated by an energy barrier made of feathers.
Michael grabbed the Summoner by the neck and lifted them off the ground. The Summoner couldn’t even speak—a one-sided battle with no chance of survival for the latter.
The angelic-looking superhero turned his head to glance at the black Ford, seemingly confirming that the two inside were unharmed. At that moment, Nemo saw his face for the first time. Although it was through the car window and from a distance, he could still make out a sharp, elegant profile. The figure was draped in a light silver armor that shone with a soft glow, resembling a statue. His platinum-colored medium-length hair floated as if unaffected by gravity, radiating a divine presence.
Then, with a sonic boom, Michael and the Summoner vanished.
Nemo struggled in Matthew's arms, trying to open the car door, but the billionaire stopped him: "Wait, there are still a lot of mosquitoes outside that haven’t died."
"..."
Now things were getting a little awkward. The second-ranked superhero clearly didn’t care about the small task of cleaning up the battlefield, which left Matthew and Nemo still trapped in the black Ford, which was on the verge of being overrun by giant mosquitoes.
"You said Michael wouldn’t be here for another twenty minutes, didn’t you?"
"That’s what the informants told Michael after they reported in, but after assessing the situation, it’s possible that Michael dropped everything and rushed to Lone Star City ahead of schedule. After all, he’s refused the U.S. President before, so you can never be sure," Matthew replied.
The lack of unified information chains had its drawbacks.
Nemo silently appreciated that the superhero still had some love for the billionaire.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Then, a large black shadow appeared on the building’s exterior, and Nemo heard a strange rustling sound. A massive lizard head emerged from the streetlight, slowly crawling toward the black Ford.
The giant lizard, upon exposure to the light, gradually shifted from a dark gray camouflage into a vibrant red.
The red lizard had long, spine-like feathers along its back, reminiscent of a stegosaurus. Its body, excluding its tail, was as large as Matthew’s extended Rolls-Royce, with a relatively small head, but still capable of swallowing a full-grown man.
The giant lizard approached the car window, its round, reptilian eyes locked on the two inside. Nemo felt a cold sweat drop from his temple, and suddenly, the giant lizard opened its mouth and shot out its long tongue, snatching up one of the mosquitoes that was about to take off.
The mosquitoes clinging to the car’s surface were swiftly swept away and devoured by the giant lizard’s bifurcated tongue whenever they made a move.
Matthew and Nemo exchanged a glance.
Then, the red giant lizard shook its spine and emitted a soft hum. The mosquitoes circling nearby seemed to receive a warning and flew off one by one, searching for other prey.
The red giant lizard remained still in front of the Ford, not attacking further, but also not leaving.
Nemo finally managed to break free from Matthew’s grip. "I think that lizard is a superpowered being. I want to go out and talk to it."
"What makes you think that? It’s eaten seventeen mosquitoes! It might be toxic too!" Matthew warned.
“It’s probably the cost of the transformation; she has to hunt similar supernatural creatures for energy. If she were after humans, she wouldn’t have waited for the crowd to disperse before coming here to catch us. The chaos had barely started, and it would have been a better hunting time then.” Nemo explained. “The point is, she came down from the rooftop. It’s clear she’s trying to avoid traffic surveillance. This is the city center, how would a monster without enough intelligence avoid military, police, and public attention and show up in front of us? And now that she’s fed, isn’t she just waiting to communicate with us?”
“Alright, but I’m going with you.” The billionaire said, knowing that this dilapidated Ford wouldn’t provide much protection against the giant lizard.
Nemo carefully opened the door of the black Ford, avoiding any contact with the bloodsucking giant mosquito's bodily fluids, keeping his gaze fixed on the color-changing giant lizard’s fiery red vertical pupils. The lizard remained still, not moving at all, until Nemo walked to an oblique front about five meters away.
Matthew stood behind him, ready to grab him and run if anything went wrong.
“Are you a superpower? If you understand, please open your mouth.” Nemo asked his first question.
The giant lizard opened its large mouth, revealing a row of densely packed backward-hooked sharp teeth.
“Do you know us? If so, please open your mouth twice.” Nemo asked again.
The lizard complied again.
Nemo stared deeply into the lizard’s eyes, and the giant reptile returned the gaze.
Matthew placed a hand on Nemo’s shoulder, saying nothing. It was hard to tell if he was admiring the curly-haired young man’s courage or lamenting how crazy Nemo was, much like himself.
“If you’re willing to take us to Grimm Tower for shelter, please raise the hand that applied lipstick to a man’s lips.” Nemo softly spoke.
The giant lizard raised its right forepaw and slammed it onto the black Ford’s hood, immediately crushing half of the car.
“Nemo, do you know who the lizard has transformed into?” Matthew looked at the damage caused by the light tap and quickly began to recall whether he had offended his girlfriend in any way over the past few days.
“You said the eyes are the window to the soul. So, when not covering the eyes, it’s also possible to see the other person’s soul, right? I just had the intuition that I might guess right, and if I’m wrong, well, nothing happens. A stranger who shows up at this critical moment and is willing to take the risk to help us—it’s hard to say they don’t have a special connection to you or me. Also, the reason she’s here is obvious. Not just because she realized we’re in danger, but she herself needs help.” Nemo spoke with great confidence.
Matthew Grimm was the most famous and unbiased sponsor of superheroes, after all.
Nemo approached the lizard, who blinked as if granting permission, and he carefully climbed up its back by following its curled, scaly leg. He gripped the base of the upright feather, securing himself, and gestured for Matthew to follow.
Once the two were securely on the lizard’s back, the creature’s scales began to blend into the surroundings, and it cautiously began climbing the nearby building, hopping from rooftop to rooftop toward Grimm Tower. The gold-green stag-shaped light display of the tower, still brightly visible in the night, was just ahead.
When the lizard leaped across the gap between two nearby buildings, Nemo suddenly let go without warning and fell. Matthew, quick to react, grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back onto the lizard’s back.
Had Matthew been even half a second slower, Nemo would have fallen from the height of over ten stories, unable to be saved. He clung to the giant lizard, seemingly still in shock.
"What's wrong with you? Can't you give me a warning when you're about to lose your grip?" Matthew shouted.
“My arm suddenly cramped up. How would I know it would happen?” Nemo grumbled.
“Are you injured?” Matthew noticed that Nemo winced when he was gripped around the waist, obviously in pain.
“I’ve been doing combat drills all week. Without that, I wouldn’t even have the guts to take on those bloodsuckers alone.” Nemo replied. Even though he was afraid—one mistake, and it was over—facing the bloodsucking giant mosquitoes felt trivial compared to the punches from his Russian roommate.
“You idiot!”
“I rested and applied medicine properly!”
They continued their bickering until the giant lizard reached the rooftop of the old office building across from Grimm Tower.
The creature, unable to stand the childish conversation between the billionaire and the chef, shook them both to the ground.
Nemo walked over and gently stroked the lizard's scales beneath its eyes, showing that he wasn’t afraid of it, and said seriously, “Right now, Lone Star City and some superheroes are heavily searching for the remaining giant mosquitoes. It’s not safe for you either. You saved us, and I promise to help you resolve your safety and secret identity issues. Matthew and I will go downstairs first, give you space to transform back, and we’ll come back to get you. Please don’t leave.”
The giant lizard lay down, its head directed toward Nemo, and the chef understood this as a sign of agreement. He pulled Matthew downstairs.
At this time, the old office building had emptied out after office hours. Even the security guard had entered Grimm Tower with the nearby residents after the alarm went off.
In the dimly lit stairwell between the second and third floors, Nemo suddenly stopped.
“Matthew,” Nemo called out the billionaire’s name. “Thank you for saving my life earlier.”
“Huh? Oh, no problem. It was you who asked her to help us get out of danger, so we’re even.” Matthew hadn’t expected Nemo to thank him after scolding him, and suddenly he felt a strange mix of emotions.
Nemo’s action was actually critical. Had the little chef not recognized the giant lizard’s true identity and gained its trust, even if Angie had wanted to help, she might have just helped them get out of immediate danger and then left. After that, she would probably have been considered a dangerous monster and taken out by superheroes or the U.S. military. Nemo and Matthew might have continued being attacked by other killers besides the bloodsucking giant mosquitoes and the summoner.
“The point is, she’s a silly girl who risked her biggest secret to help two men she barely knows.”
Nemo hadn’t mentioned Angie’s name the entire time, even considering the possibility that there were other superpowers eavesdropping near Grimm Tower. This caution was something that even Matthew found incredible. “I agree with you.”
“If I guarantee it, can she get training at your base?” Nemo asked.
It was obvious that Angie was a lone operator with a hidden identity. The giant lizard wasn’t on any superhero rankings or featured in any urban legends.
“Guarantee it with what?” he asked curiously. Even if Nemo hadn't requested it, Matthew would have protected his girlfriend, especially since Angie had a special identity and had been a big help.
“Our friendship.”
Matthew felt something strange but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
"Isn't it deserving of that?"Nemo raised an eyebrow.
“Of course, it is!” Maybe Matthew was just overthinking.
“Do you have any problem getting back to the headquarters by yourself?”
“I already had the headquarters security block off the surrounding roads and positioned snipers waiting for my return. Crossing a street is no big deal.”
Nemo reached out toward the billionaire again. “Lend me your suit jacket, it’ll cover more of me. I’ll go to the rooftop to handle her transformation. Once we’re done, I’ll call you, and you can send a car to pick us up. We’ll take the executive elevator from the underground parking garage.”
This kid really thinks of everything, Matthew thought to himself.
"We'll deal with the consequences of your injuries later." The billionaire took off his jacket and purposely threw it over Nemo’s head. As Nemo cursed at him, Matthew whistled and walked downstairs. He had to start a public press conference to calm everyone down.
Nemo returned to the rooftop with Matthew’s jacket. There, the naked supermodel sat cross-legged, her long hair flowing to the floor. Her glowing fiery red vertical pupils lifted to look at him, staring intensely as though she were the wild heroine from a fantasy movie poster.
He walked over and draped the suit jacket over her shoulders, noticing her fingers were unnaturally long and bent, with clearly visible scales and sharp claws.
Nemo’s intuition had been right. After transforming back into her human form, Angie still retained lizard-like traits, making it difficult for her to freely switch between the two forms and immediately blend into the crowd.
“How long will it take for these traits to disappear?”
“A week. Last time I accidentally transformed, I took a sick day and lost two major jobs.” Angie spoke, even her tongue was forked.
“It’s fine this time. Matthew will cover for you. We agreed on that.” Nemo reassured her.
“Nemo, is my other form ugly?”
"No, it's very beautiful and powerful, and it even changes color! You know I don't lie about this. I'm glad my kind looks so tall and beautiful—such an excellent existence is..."
“…Just excellent.” Angie finished his sentence, her eyes brimming with tears as she smiled at him.